How Fun!

This week has been so much fun for the kids and I!

On Friday, Johnny's birthday, we went to the drive in movie to see Kung Foo Panda and Indiana Jones. They were such great movies! I have to admit, I fell asleep during Indiana Jones for a minute. I did like what I saw. Johnny asked if he could invite John Jr, my nephew. We took him and on the way down, Lori called to see what we were up to. I told her we would love to have her come join us. She and her sweet boys, Nathan and Tyler, jumped in their car, went and got candy and were there in 15 minutes. We had so much fun! About half way through the movie, Kami, Krissi's best friend showed. up.

Clara was introduced, by Lori, to Dreyer's Ice Cream Dibs she ate a whole box and then started licking the lid. It was quite funny to watch.

On Saturday, we went to a family reunion for the Holladay side. This is the first one we have ever had. It was so neat! Growing up, we were so close to our Holladay cousins. After we all moved on with our lives, we seemed to grow apart. We were still close but we just didn't have as much contact with them anymore.

It was such a special reunion. Almost everyone came. The only people who didn't had a real reason as to why they couldn't make it, like Bill, being in Hong Kong.

During the reunion, some of the cousins stood up and started an impromptu talent show. Mom got up and asked Krissi to sing. She sounded amazing, as usual! Everyone told her how wonderful she did and some of my cousins even gave her a standing ovation. Johnny told jokes that he had learned from scout camp (that reminds me, I need to talk to the scout masters about that) and Zach and Mary did a cute song they had learned in school. I was so proud of all my kids. It takes a lot for Zach to get up and perform. He is my shy one!

On Sunday, we went and spent time with Jenny and Lanny before they went home. I am so blessed to have the brothers and sisters I have. They are the best in the world!

Now we are back to the beginning of the week... Actually, it is Wednesday, and things are back to normal... On Friday it is the 4th of July. I am so excited for that! We go to Holladay and watch the fire works. It is so fun!

Well, I better go! I will talk to you soon... Until then, remember that I love you! Holy cow, Clara has me watching too much Barney... Isn't that something he would say... Anyway, it is true!

Love you all!

The Biggest Heart

And the biggest heart award goes to... Johnny LeCheminant!
OK, so it is a funny way to start this entry. If you know Johnny, you will know why I said it.
Thirteen years ago today, I gave birth to Johnny William "Angel" LeCheminant. From the minute I held him, I knew there was something VERY special about him. They handed him to me and I said "Hi Johnny". He took his thumb and stuck it in his mouth. He was my only thumb sucker. He never cried... He would just stick his thumb in his mouth and go on. I even tried to get Zach and Clara to such their thumbs because of how good and easy Johnny was. They liked the Binky. It's OK, they still were and are great babies.
Johnny has the cutest sense of humor. He always is smiling. We found out about his sense of humor when Lynn was changing his diaper the day he was born. Johnny went to the bathroom and hit Lynn right in the glasses. I laughed so hard! OK, so maybe he didn't mean to be funny that day but it was funny!
When Johnny started to walk, he would come down the stairs of the townhouse we lived in. He would turn off the TV then run back up as fast as he could. He kept doing this over and over and over again. I don't think we ever made it through a full TV show, unless it was Barney.
Johnny grew into a beautiful spirit! When he turned eight, he wanted to get in to Karate. We put him in. He went to every lesson for two years and got his black belt when he turned Ten. We were so proud of him!
When Johnny hit sixth grade he came to me and said "Mom, I want to play the violin". I said OK and fought Lynn on it because he didn't think Johnny would stick to it and that it wasn't a good instrument for him. I went down and rented Johnny a violin. He is still playing to this day. He loves it and he is really good at it! His violin teacher, Tammy, says that he could be one of the greats if he practiced more. He does have great sound.
When Johnny hit the end of sixth grade, he decided that he was going to write a story. The story is about The X, a superhero. He has villains and even songs for when it is made in to a movie. It really is a great story! Johnny has a great imagination. All his young men leaders have told him that if he writes it by next year, they will pay him $100. He gave the first chapter to his English teacher. She loved it! She told me that she thinks he is a brilliant child. He is... He just has to believe it!
When Johnny hit seventh grade, he made friends and became the one that a lot of people tease. There were a lot of days that he would come home upset that some one called him a name or made fun of him. He even got hit a couple of times. This is where the biggest heart comes in. Johnny got hit in the neck so hard that it swelled up. We went to see the vice principal. She talked to the boy and then explained to Johnny that this boy had had a really rough past couple of years. Johnny, from that day on, treated the boy with a lot of respect and took him on as a friend. It was like the incident never happened. He is one of the most forgiving people I know. I think he gets this from my dad and mom.
Johnny loves everyone. It doesn't matter who they are, what they are like or even if they do something bad to him. He puts 100% in to making people feel accepted. When Johnny was playing football, the summer between fifth and sixth, he got the biggest heart award. When they got up to announce it, everyone said "Johnny LeCheminant". It was really neat!
What a blessing he has been to me in my life! He brings so much joy to me! I love his smile! I love his imagination! Johnny is such an amazing young man! He truly does have one of the biggest hearts I know.
Happy birthday Johnny Angel! I love you!

Home Again

I'm home from my trip across the nation. It is so nice to be home! I missed my kids so much!
I had fun in NYC. Laurie came with me. She and I tried fun new places to eat. I have never eaten better food in my life! We started on Friday by meeting at JFK. Laurie had to fly through San Diego to get there. We went in to Canal Street (China Town) to shop. Laurie had never been in to the rooms behind the stores so I needed to take her there. Wendy Pollock, my sweet friend from work, came with us. We saw purses we liked. None of us bought them. We thought we would look more. We were taken in to three more rooms and didn't like the purses as much as we saw in the first room. So needless to say, we came out of China Town with out a purse... OH well!
Laurie and I got hungry and we passed one of the restaurants that Laurie had read about. We ate there... OH MY HECK... It was SOOOO good! I had a chicken dish on Chinese Vegis. I came out of there thinking I was in heaven! We then walked downtown, actually, I am not sure where we walked. I just followed Laurie. We went to a place to get a piece of pizza called Artichoke. Holy cow... That pizza was amazing! We had a piece of chocolate on our way and then went and ate chocolate mousse cheese cake at Juniors. YEP, my mouth was happy! I ate so much food and was wanting more..
The next two days, I worked at The Big Apple BBQ. I had so much fun! I love this event! I ate the best BBQ in the world! Salt Lick BBQ makes THE best brisket in the world! I ate it for two days straight.
Wendy and I went to pick Laurie up from her brother's house in Brooklyn. We had a mishap in the directions. I didn't put South in my Tom Tom and we ended up in probably the worst part of Brooklyn. I called Laurie and she corrected me and we made it. That night Laurie and I went out to eat at a Thai place. I had a ginger seafood dish that was amazing! On the way to eat, we found a sign on the side of the road that said Jaci and Co. It was pretty cool! I got my picture taken next to it. We started taking the subway back to our hotel by JFK. Come to find out, the subway we were on was under construction at one part in the track until 10 pm. We arrived at the construction part at 9:45 and they wouldn't let us wait so we had to take the bus to Jamaica NY. We drove through Queens at night on the bus. We then got on the Subway at Jamaica and took the E train in to Jamaica Station where we got on the airtrain to the JFK and then the shuttle to the hotel. Laurie and I both decided that our husbands would not have been happy to hear that we were doing what we were doing and where we were that late at night. It was a little interesting. We figured it out and we took 6 ways of transportation to get to the hotel that night and it took us over two hours. Not a fun thing.
On Sunday, I worked and went back to the hotel. Laurie made me sleep that night. She said I don't get enough sleep... She's right... I don't. So I slept from 10:30 that night to 10:30 the next morning. I think it was the best sleep I have had in a REALLY long time.
Monday, we went to Time Square and bought a few things for the kids. We ate at a Japanese Restaurant Laurie had read about. It was amazing also. We walked down to The Tonight Show and I caught the subway and went back to the airport. I flew home, got home at 12:30 Tuesday morning and was back to the airport at 5:45 Tuesday morning. We flew out to California.
Krissi has been wanting me to meet her two best friends' moms. We all flew down to California together, and spent the day together in Disneyland. We had so much fun! I have to admit, their moms are pretty cool! I was not really looking forward to going. I was worn out from NYC. I wanted to hear Krissi sing but I missed home. I am SO happy I went. Diane, India's mom, and Lorie (yep another one), Kami's mom and I had so much fun! We laughed and laughed. I seriously felt like I was a teenager again. We spent three days together from morning until night with each other. Krissi and India always have talked about how much their moms were alike. I do have to admit, we are very similar. I felt like I made two great new friends on my trip.
Krissi didn't end up singing in Disneyland. She got Laryngitis. It was pretty sad. I called George and asked him what we could do about it. He told us to give her Olive Oil. We did. It worked a little but not enough to let her sing. Kami sang. She sounded beautiful!
We did have a really funny thing happen while we were at Disneyland and California Adventure. Lorie was taking a picture of the girls by a statue of a bear she thought was cute. A huge man walks up to her and says "you can look but your not allowed to take pictures". We all looked at each other in wonder. We then noticed that people were gathering around this family. We had no idea who it was until India said "Oh my heck, it is David Beckham". We then figured out that was who this guy was talking about. He didn't want us taking pictures of David Beckham. It was really funny.
We came home on Friday. On Saturday, about 3 pm, Krissi told me that I had to go work at the Bee's game. Krissi, because she is a LaNichee, is required to work five times at The Bee's games for fundraisers. Come to find out, Krissi is not allowed to work because she is under 16. So guess who get so go in her place... Yep, me... I decided, I am getting too old for things like that.
On Sunday, Krissi sang at Tiffany's ward. She sang "O My Father". She sounded amazing! Tiffany spoke and every word touched my heart. I had to leave during the closing song because I had tears pouring down my face. I really was touched during this Sacrament. It was so sweet. Tiffany is really a special spirit. Between Krissi and Tiffany, I think everyone came out of that Sacrament feeling uplifted. It was a wonderful day!
On Monday, Clara started running a 104.5 temp. I took her to the Docs. He told me that she has Pneumonia. She is much better now. Her temp is down and she is starting to be back to normal. I hate it when my children get sick. I wish I could take it all away from them. They are so sweet.
Tuesday, Lynn had surgery and had his screw taken out. He has been down for the past week.
Yep, it has been a crazy week for me. It is nice to be home... Back to daily life!
I love you all!
Jaci

Off To NYC...

I have a couple of pretty hectic weeks ahead of me.
As I have said before, I work for JetBlue Airways. I love my job! One of my favorite parts is that I get to go around the country and promote JetBlue. Tomorrow, I am off to do my favorite of all promotions, The Big Apple BBQ http://www.bigapplebbq.org/ . This event is so much fun! They bring in the best pitmasters in the United States, close off Madison Avenue, and have a big BBQ party for two days. JetBlue is a sponsor. I get to go promote there!
I leave tomorrow night and get back on Monday. On Tuesday, I get on a flight to Burbank, California to go chaperon Krissi's choir tour. I am really excited about that. I signed up for both not knowing that they were back to back. Probably not a good thing. I hate the fact that I am going to be away from my children for a whole week! They are my life! I can't miss Krissi sing, though. She is singing a solo in Disneyland.
I have the kids well taken care of. That makes me feel good. I love Lynn. I just know that it is hard for him to take care of the kids on his own. He forgets to feed them and such. He is staying with the kids during the time I am in NYC. Krissi is here to help out. She is 15 and very capable of helping. Then the boys and Clara are off to Grandma Grace's house, along with Lynn, of coarse. They are staying there while I go to California with Krissi.
I am going to miss them so much... Whoops, I already said that, right? Well, I am! I wish I could take the kids with me. That would be the ideal situation. I can't take them while I work and I can't take them on Krissi's trip. They will be OK, it is just REALLY hard to leave them! I love them all so much!
I think Krissi is excited for the trip. As I said, she is singing a solo in Disneyland. The song is "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes". She sounds so amazing at it! It will be neat to hear her sing that song in Disneyland since it is from Disney's Cinderella.
Today was the last day of school for Krissi and Johnny. Zach still has to go tomorrow. I wish they got out on the same day. I love having them home. I am so excited that it is summer! It is so sad when I hear moms say "I hate Summer. I have to deal with the kids..." One of my friends from work says it all the time. I just turn and say, "I love Summer. It is my favorite time of year. I get to have my kids home..." Is that mean to say to her? It is true. I love having them home. If I was more disciplined and didn't think my kids needed the social aspect of school, I would keep them home all the time. They make me so happy.
Well, I better run. It is late and I have a HUGE day tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day and I will talk as soon as I get home, maybe sooner, depending on computer access at the hotels.
I love you all!
Jaci

My Music...

Just a quick note why I picked the music I did.
In high school, I was really into hard rock and classic rock. Bon Jovi and Def Leppard were two of my favorite groups. My kids think I am crazy! They know both of these groups very well. Am I crazy to play it for them? I actually think I use it more for a shock factor. They can't believe their mom listened to "that kind of music".
I love country! Barry Mannilow reminds me of my Mom and Aunt Joan driving up to our cabin when I was a little girl. "Me and Little Andy" takes me back to my childhood. I love Neil Diamond and the rest of the songs are because of my kids. They are songs my kids love and I have grown to love because of them.
So there you have it in a nutshell. My music is made up of a lot of different genres. I couldn't add my favorite to the list. It wasn't on the website. I am sure most people know it by now, yep, George Dyer.

Real People

I had a very interesting week.
First, I had to have a root canal done today. YUCK! I don't think I have ever been in such pain before! I went in to the dentist today and he told me that I needed one. He put me in touch with a endodonist. They told me that they couldn't get me in for a week. I sat down in the middle of my dentist lobby and broke down in tears. I felt like such a baby. I just know now and have total sympathy for those who have had them before. I have had four c sections and a constant migraine for a year and this pain was so much worse! Anyway, the cute nurse and office manager took me aside and talked to me about their pain when they had their root canals. While the office manager talked, the nurse called another endodontist and got me a appointment today. I was so thankful! Dr. Watson came over and gave me numbing medicine to keep me sane until the appointment.. I went in and had the root canal done and now I am here writing about it. My sweet mom asked me if I was in pain. I told her that the pain I was feeling right now is so minor compared to what I was dealing with today that it didn't even really feel like pain. I'm just glad to get it over with...
Anyway, today, I want to tell you what happened this week to me and why I used the phrase Real People in this blog.
Yesterday, I was picking Krissi up from work. She works at the ball park at the concession stand on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It's nice because she is earning money for LaNichees. Back to the story... While I was picking her up, dear sweet Crystal, a lady from our Ward came up to my car. We started to talk and she started telling me a story about Johnny and as she did this she started to cry. She loves Johnny. He was in her primary class last year. So we sat there and talked and I started thinking about how much this sweet person has touched my life.
You see, five years ago, I was 100 lbs heavier. I had extremely low self esteem and I was very shy... Yes, I can be shy at times...
Anyway, there were a few people in my ward that really went out of their way to make me feel important and one of them was Crystal. She always would tell me that I was beautiful. I didn't believe her but it was nice to hear. After I lost my weight, people from all over, the kids school, church, and work started treating me different. One person went as far as calling me her best friend to my daughter. I think, honestly, I have talked to her five times in my life... Long way from being my best friend. There are others in my ward that treated me well before and after also, Candice, Beth and Lynne to name a few. I don't dislike the people who came around after I lost the weight. I just know the people who have always treated me the same.
So as Crystal talked to me, I started to cry. I then told her how much I love her and how thankful I am for her friendship. I told her how much I appreciated the fact that she is such a genuine person.
This is why the real people title...
It is so nice when you come across those who are real... My mom, is one of the most amazing people in the world! She never has a negative comment about anything. If there is ever anything negative going on, she tries to remove herself from the situation. My mom is a REAL person!
My sisters are REAL! They have so much love in them. Yesterday, I had a really hard day. When I picked the kids up, I was crying. I took Jon home. He is Joan's son. He told my sister that I was upset. With in a few minutes, I had a call from her to see if I was OK. I kind'0f needed that call...Beautiful Joan is like that all the time. Jenny, she would perform service to anyone that needs it and even to those that don't. I tell Jenny all the time that she is perfect. She hates it when I tell her that. She might not be but she is sure close. My sisters are REAL!
My Loris... I have three of them you know... Lori , Laurie and Shannon Lori. I don't know how I ended up with three of them in my life but I have to say that each one of them is REAL! When Lynn broke his leg, Lori and Laurie were at the hospital before the brought him out of surgery. They were there for me. They are such amazing women! I am very blessed to have them in my life!
So talking to Crystal really got me thinking. I pray that when people think of me, they think that I am REAL.
I have to go now! Until my next post...Be safe and remember that I love you!

It's been a while...

I know that it has been a while since I have written. I have had a lot going. With that said, things are going great! My headaches, for the most part, are gone. It's absolutely beautiful outside! And my life is great!
Today has been a crazy day. I got a call from Krissi at 9:00 this morning . She was sick at school. I went to get her. I got her situated when I got a call from a teacher at Zach's school. They called to tell me that Zach had just thrown up. So I went to get him. Krissi spent the rest of the day with her head by the toilet. Zach spent the day in my bed with a pan by his side.
Then Johny came home. Clara, Johnny and I decided to go out to eat. Half way through the meal, Johnny turned to me and said "mom, I don't feel so well". I took him home and that was the end of that.
Now the three older kids are laying on my bed sick while I am working. I guess I am going to have my house filled tomorrow with kids. Krissi thinks she is going to school but I don't think I am going to let her. I did spend the rest of the day disinfecting my house. It needed it. I will probably do it again tomorrow. I walked in to my house tonight after running a few places and in smelled so horrible. I knew it needed to be cleaned through and through. It smells really good now, thank goodness!
I am so proud of Johnny. We have struggled with him doing his homework. He is the smartest kid I know but he gets bored. He refuses to do his work. Anyway, the past week he has put all his effort in to making up his missing work. I think he is finally thinking that he wants to succeed. The Vice-Principal wants to give him the gifted test by the end of the year so we can put him in that program. She feels like he needs it because he is not being challanged enough. He has been such a huge help to me lately. He literally has been my right hand by helping with Clara and such. What a great kid!
Krissi is getting ready to be a LaNichee. She is so excited! She told me that she hasn't been this excited about anything, ever. She didn't make the choir that she tried out for. She knows it isn't her voice. Her voice is amazing! We think it is because she is a LaNichee. That is OK. She will continue to take voice from George Dyer, my favorite singer, and dance her little heart out. My beautiful mom and incredible sisters say, "Let her dance now. She will always have her voice". I think Krissi not making the choir upset me more than it did her. I just want her to have everything. She is such an amazing person. She gives so much of herself. I just pray that she is happy.
Zach is great! He has been practicing for the fun run at school. He and Krissi go over to Skyline and run around the track. He is a pretty fast little bugger. I hope he does well. He has a little girl liking him. Her name is Emily B. She is so cute! She tells him everyday how much she likes him. She follows him to the car and talks to all of us when we pick Zach up. I laugh at how shy Zach is. This is so funny to watch. I can't believe my seven year old already has girls chasing him.
Clara is so cute! She still is going through her mommy stage. She makes me so happy. I can't even believe I have her! She just completes the family so well. She started walking. Her favorite word is "That". Her eyes are so beautiful! They have such a softness to them.
I know I always talk about my kids. I just love them so much! They are my life!
Lori and I are going to start painting my house next week. I am so excited! We are going to finish the floors first. I have hardwood floors. Mom hates them because they are not finished. We can't afford to finish them all the way but we are going to clean them really well and then paint the walls. I have found some slipcovers I love and hope that eventually I can get those. I was thinking about it today, I really don't need a bigger home. I just want to make this one the best it can be. I am going to finish the upstairs and then I am going to move on to the downstairs. Maybe by the time the kids start school or at least by Christmas, They will have their rooms done. Krissi so deserves to have her own room. She has been sharing her room with my office. My office has taken over. Johnny shares his room with Zach and Clara. They need their own space and I am going to do my darnedest to make that happen.
Well, I better go! I am a little tired. I think staying up all night is finally getting to me.
I love you all~